In a moment of reflection, after the uproar of media day had dipped significantly, Henrik Sedin said: "This is how it should be."

He was talking about the hundreds of media members and the thousands of questions. Some were splendid, others silly and a few assinine. He relished them all. That's because it felt grand. It seemed important, like the Super Bowl. As it should. This is the Stanley Cup final.

In it, Henrik and his brother will try and complete an alchemical-like process which they started well, sagged badly, endured ridicule and came out improved, surpassing everyone's expectations. And all of that was just in this postseason. Just imagine how the other 11 years went.

Both Sedins chose Tuesday to shed some light on it. In-between serious questions from serious publications about whether they are actually psychic or not — they're not, by the way — the Sedins revealed just how low it got at times on the road from the 1999 NHL Entry Draft to here.

They talked about the significance of having each other and they weren't referring to the play on the ice. They were talking about their lives off of it.

"To go through it by yourself, that would have been tough," Henrik said. "Especially as a young player coming from Sweden.

"But to have (Daniel) around, knowing someone else went through the same thing, that made it easier.

"A lot of times you didn't really want to come down (to the rink). You didn't really want to play the games. It wasn't fun.

"But it came to a time and place, where we just told each other, 'Have fun, and play our game.'

"If it didn't work out then fine. We had to try, at least."

They had to try what? To be themselves. That meant breaking some unwritten rules. It meant passing when the coach wanted them to shoot. It mean cycling in the corner when the coach wanted them to go to the net. It meant being different, unique and, in the end, Sedin-like.